The Other Mother
by RaydorCakes
Summary: Rusty lets out a relieved breath as the baby takes the formula, thankful for some peace and quiet. He watches Sharon, a happy smile on her face, mumbling words he couldn't hear. It made him wonder what it would've been like to grow up with her for a mother.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Because what ever happened to Sharon Beck?_

"Rusty, what are you doing here?" Sharon questions as she looks up from her desk, Andy turning from where he sat across from her, and both of them eyeing the teen. It wasn't unusual for one of the kids to pop into the murder room throughout the day, but they could tell by his wide eyes and pale skin that something was off.

"What's wrong? You look like you saw a ghost." Andy adds as Sharon places the bridal magazine they had been looking at in a drawer.

"Rusty," Sharon gets up from her seat and cautiously approaches him, "what on earth is going on?"

"You guys need to come outside. Right now." Rusty blurts out before running down the hall and towards the parking garage.

"What the hell?" Andy breathes out in confusion as he looks to Sharon, "What's gotten into him?"

"I don't know, but I have a bad feeling about this." Sharon schools her features before walking towards the elevators, Andy following behind.

Sharon takes deep breaths as the elevator makes its way to the parking garage, unsure of what was going on. A part of her hoped that Ricky and Emily were in town, and that this was a ruse to surprise her.

As soon as the elevator doors open, she can tell it's anything but that. Rusty's car is pulled up outside the terminal, and the back door is open. His legs are sticking out of the door, and from what she could tell, he was laying across the seat.

"Rusty?" Sharon questions slowly, her hand gingerly brushing against Andy's as they take a step towards the car.

"Okay, I know this is going to sound crazy," he pushes himself out of the car, a cardboard box in his hands, "but look." He opens the box and both Sharon and Andy peer curiously inside, surprised to find a small baby sleeping soundly.

"Did you steal a kid?" Andy questions with anger as he looks at the child. If he had to guess it was no more than a few days old, and he wondered how Rusty would've even managed to get ahold of it.

"Rusty, tell us what is going on, right now." Sharon crosses her arms over her chest, switching to Darth Raydor in a matter of seconds.

"Mom, I think this is my sister." He looks from the baby to the couple in front of him with pleading eyes.

"Why would you think that? Where'd you get a baby?" Andy questions, and Sharon pats his arm in an attempt to keep him from getting any more worked up.

"When I went to leave the condo I stepped outside and the box was there. Who else would leave a baby outside our door?" He questions, "I haven't talked to my mother since we saw her last." Rusty looks to Sharon, "Shouldn't she have had the baby by now?"

Sharon thinks for a moment, trying not to look at the sleeping child. She knew it was only a matter of time before she got attached, and she knew that wasn't a good idea.

"I'm not sure exactly, but I think so." Sharon nods, "But that doesn't prove anything."

"Come on Mom, who else would drop their baby outside our door?" Rusty questions with exasperation, "You told me I had to be ready to be an older brother, and that's what I'm doing."

"This is ridiculous!" Andy interjects, his eyes pinched shut with frustration and his face reddening, "Why would she give us her baby!"

"Andy," Sharon turns to look at him, her eyes filled with worry, "maybe you should go back upstairs. You know getting this worked up isn't good for your heart."

"How can you expect me _not_ to get worked up about something like this?" Andy questions loudly.

"Uh, guys," Rusty looks awkwardly from the box to his parents, "I think she's waking up."

A quiet squeal comes from the box, and before Andy can even register the sound, Sharon reaches into the box and picks up the child, "You're a little one, aren't you?" Sharon questions softly as she cradles the baby against her chest, "What's your name?"

Andy and Rusty exchange a look, neither of them having expected Sharon to have reacted like this.

"Why not Mariana?" Rusty suggests, "At least until we know. It's better than Jane."

The baby starts to cry and Sharon coos quietly, rocking the bundle back and forth.

"Andy, can you give Cynthia a call for me? And see if you can track down Sharon Beck. I'm going to run out and get some formula."

"You've got to be kidding me right now." Flynn lets out a deep breath and rolls his eyes, "Am I the only sane one in this family?"

"Look at this face." Sharon says in her baby-voice as she turns to Andy, "Tell me this isn't the cutest little face."

"Go. Go find some formula and I'll get the team on this." He presses a kiss to Sharon's cheek before adding, "We aren't exactly equipped for something like this."

Sharon ignores his comment, instead getting into the backseat of Rusty's car, the teen starting it and pulling out of the parking garage.

~oOo~

"So, Andy's mad." Rusty breathes out as he and Sharon shop for formula, "I'm not trying to mess you guys up, especially with the wedding and all, but I didn't know what else to do."

"You did the right thing." Sharon responds seriously, the baby once again sleeping in the crook of her arm, "Gosh, I forgot how expensive all this stuff is." She breathes out as she hands Rusty a container of formula, "We should get diapers too, and maybe some clothes."

"If I let you buy too much, Andy's going to kill me." The teen laughs awkwardly, "Let's just stick to the essentials right now."

"Is clothing not essential?" Sharon questions with a raised eyebrow, "If so, I suggest you give me back the shirt you're wearing, since I paid for it."

"Mom, come on." Rusty sighs, "That's not what I meant. Babies can get by with just diapers and blankets, at least for a while."

"If this little girl's going to grow up a Flynn, she needs to look the part." Sharon responds, and Rusty just sighs.

 _Sometimes there was no arguing with her._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Thanks for all the positive feedback. I figured this is the only way we'd ever get to see Sharon with a baby, making it a realistic(?) babyfic._

"Mom, make her stop." Rusty grumbles as he pulls into the parking garage, "She's giving me a headache."

"She's hungry." Sharon explains as she gently touches the baby's cheek, "I need a microwave to heat up the formula."

"So you're going to take a screaming baby up to the seventh floor?" Rusty questions as he rests his head against the steering wheel, "I take it back, I'm not ready to be a big brother."

"Well get ready." Sharon responds, "Because we're going inside."

"You know, I'm starting to see what Andy was talking about. This is insane." He sighs as he and Sharon both get out of the car, the baby still crying.

"Whether she's your sister or not, someone needs to take care of her until Cynthia shows up." She presses the elevator button, still trying to calm the baby as best she could.

"And if she's not my sister?" Rusty questions in response as they board the elevator.

"We'll see what Cynthia says." She replies as they step off the elevator.

She can feel the team's eyes lock on her immediately, and Provenza is the first to comment, "Shut that thing up."

"Working on it." Rusty replies as he and Sharon hurry through the murder room and towards the break room, eager to get the baby quiet. "Okay, what do we do?" Rusty questions, a hint of panic in his voice.

Sharon lets out a small laugh, "Get my cup out of the cabinet and fill it with water. Microwave it until the water starts to boil."

"Okay, got it." Rusty does as he's told, "Then what?"

"Let it cool for a minute, then pour it into the bottle." She responds as she gently kisses the baby's forehead, "It's okay, we'll get you taken care of real soon." She coos, her voice soft.

"It's cool enough." Rusty was still frantic, wanting more than anything for the baby to stop crying.

"Add two scoops of the powder." She instructs, watching as Rusty does so, "Put your finger over the end and shake it so the powder mixes."

"Here." Rusty practically throws her the bottle, "Make it stop."

"First rule of feeding a baby:" she looks to Rusty, "test the bottle, make sure it's not too hot." She explains as she squirts a dab of formula onto her wrist, "If you burn her she'll cry even more."

"Don't burn the baby, got it." He lets out a relieved breath as the baby takes the formula, thankful for some peace and quiet. He watches Sharon, a happy smile on her face, mumbling words he couldn't hear. It made him wonder what it would've been like to grow up with her for a mother.

"She's hungry." Sharon remarks as she watches the baby, her little body seeming to shake slightly.

"Yeah, I got that." Rusty responds sarcastically.

"No, I mean she's really hungry." Sharon clarifies, "I wonder when she was fed last. Poor thing." Sharon looks down at the baby and watches her intently, still overcome with soft tremors. She's was probably cold, and Sharon makes a note to wrap her tighter in the blanket.

"I should go see if the team found my mom." Rusty starts, but Sharon's voice instantly brings him back.

"I'm right here." She responds as she stands and follows him to the corridor.

"You know what I mean, my other mother." He shrugs as they make their way down the hallway.

"Hey, Sharon," Andy walks over and meets them just outside the murder room, "I talked to Cynthia, she's on her way."

"Good." She nods, momentarily glancing away from Andy to check on the baby, "Did you find anything on Sharon Beck?"

"She checked into the hospital a few days ago, but it's all confidential. We'll need a warrant to access the records."

"Okay," she lets out a deep breath, "I'll get on that." She shifts the baby to her other arm and stretches her shoulder, "We should've gotten a carrier." She says to Rusty.

"If your arms are getting tired I can hold her." Andy suggests hesitantly, "It's been a while, but I remember how."

"I'm fine." Sharon brushes off his concern, "We need to figure out where she came from, that's more important. You'll let me know when Cynthia gets here?" She questions.

"Yeah, I will." He promises, "And if we catch a lead?"

"I'll handle the warrant for the hospital, Provenza can handle everything else. My priority right now is making sure the baby is doing well; she'll probably be hungry again in an hour or two."

"Seriously?" Rusty groans, "Does that mean she's going to cry again?"

Sharon nods, "And I haven't even taught you about diapers yet."

"Pass." Rusty responds, "I'm going to go hang out with Gus for a bit, try not to think about all this. If you find my mom, text me."

"I'm right here." Sharon repeats as Rusty heads out of the murder room.

"What are you thinking?" Andy whispers lowly, "You want to take care of this baby that's fine, but don't drag him into it. We have _no_ proof that that's his sister, don't get his hopes up like that."

"Please, lets not fight about this right now." Sharon sighs, "Because regardless of where this baby came from, she deserves to be taken care of until Cynthia gets here. Can we at least agree on that?" She questions.

"Fine, whatever, but when it's not his sister and Rusty gets heartbroken, that's on you." He responds. He wasn't trying to be mean to her, he loved her very much, but he wanted to protect Rusty. He'd watched the boy get his hopes up time and time again with his biological mother and father, only to be let down and hurt every time. He didn't want now to be another one of those times, and he really wished Sharon would be a bit hesitant about the whole situation. But as in most cases where children were involved, she couldn't help it. She fell into the mother role, and the rest was history.

"What a caring fiance." Sharon shoots back sarcastically as she heads to her office and closes the door.

~oOo~

Sharon walks into her office, shopping bags strewn about the floor. She sits the baby down on the carpet, the little girl looking around with wide eyes. It was then that Sharon noticed her eyes were a bright blue, much like Rusty's. She pushes the thought aside and picks up her purse, emptying the contents onto the windowsill. She then starts putting diapers, blankets, and some other things she had bought into the purse. For now, it would work as a makeshift diaper bag, and although Andy had a habit of complaining about the size of her purse, now it worked to her advantage.

Sharon sits down on the floor and crosses her legs, that action alone reminding her that she was too old to be having another baby. She looks at the little girl, her eyes still peering around wildly, and Sharon tickles the baby with a finger.

"Hi, Mariana." She breathes out softly as she continues to tickle the baby, "My name's Sharon. We're going to find out where you came from, yes we are." Sharon looks up for a moment, doing a double take when she sees Andy standing outside the window. He looks at her guiltily upon being caught, and Sharon motions with her eyes for him to open the door.

"Did you find anything?" She questions, her finger still tracing up and down the baby's stomach.

"We need the warrant first." Andy responds, and Sharon looks up at him and pouts.

"I got a little distracted." She admits as she looks from Flynn to the baby, "If you hand me my laptop I'll get it sent right over to the judge."

He does as Sharon's asked and she sets the laptop on the floor beside her and begins typing with one hand, the other still occupied with the baby. "Do you need something else?" She questions with a raised eyebrow when he continues to stand, silently, in the centre of her office.

"I don't think this is a good idea." Andy responds, the baby's eyes drawn to the sound of his deep voice, "Even if she is his sister, we don't exactly have room in the condo for a baby."

"Maybe this is the push we need to finally buy a house together." Sharon responds as she types on her computer.

"Sharon," Andy breathes out and crouches down so he's eye-level with her, "we're getting married, which means that this isn't just your decision."

"Rusty is my son, and if this child is his sister, that makes her my daughter. I mean this in the most caring way Andy, I do," she looks up at him apologetically, "but if this baby is a Beck, she's part of my family, part of _our_ ," she corrects, "family. The family that you and I built. And regardless of your opinion on the matter, if this little one is Rusty's sister, I'll take her in. They both deserve to know each other, to grow up together. As someone who cares for both Rusty and myself very much, I thought you'd be a little more open to the idea."

"We don't even know it's his sister! You're getting so attached to this kid, getting him attached to this kid when neither of you know!"

"Please stop yelling." Sharon responds quietly, hopeful to keep the baby from crying for the time being.

"You need to think about this Sharon, really think about this."

"I have-" She starts to say, but he cuts her off.

"No you haven't. You haven't thought about any of it. I know we don't like to act it, but we're getting up there. And with a baby we'd be awake all hours of the night, then working all day. And if something were to happen to me," he sighs, "then you'd be doing the single mom thing again, and then god forbid something happens to you, Rusty's just supposed to take care of her? We'll have to move, we'd need a sitter at the house, unless you plan on bringing the baby to work every day. Look, I just think you need to put some serious thought into this. I love Rusty like one of my own, but we aren't a foster home. We aren't prepared to raise a baby."

"Well," Sharon breathes out, her voice watery before she quickly schools it, "I suppose it's a good thing you and I weren't together when I adopted Rusty."

"No, that's not what I meant." He tries, but Sharon just looks at him as she picks up the baby and cradles her against her chest.

"You should go before you wake her up."

"Sharon, come on don't be like that." He pleads.

"We aren't on the same page about this, which is fine, but if we're going to fight, save it for a time when the baby isn't around."

Flynn lets out a deep breath and rolls his eyes before storming out of her office, slamming the door louder than he had intended to.


	3. Chapter 3

Sharon looks up from her seat on the couch when she hears the front door open, and she offers Andy a small smile.

"Did Cynthia call while I was out?" He questions as he closes and locks the door.

Sharon shakes her head no as she sips her water, "I hope the baby's okay."

"It was just a routine checkup, I'm sure if there was something wrong the baby wouldn't have stopped crying." He takes a seat beside her and kicks off his shoes, "They're running a bloodwork panel. I talked to Rusty, and he wants to be run as a comparison, since we've had no luck finding the other Sharon."

"There's nothing we can do," she breathes out, "if it is Sharon Beck's child, or even if it isn't. I was doing some research while you were out, and there's something called a Safe Haven Law." She explains, "It allows parents to give up their newborn without criminal charges. Normally those places are firehouses, hospitals, or police stations, but there's an exception: In the state of California, officers of the law can accept a child as well. Which means as far as the law is concerned, the mother of that baby did nothing wrong. The mother relinquished her parental rights, and left her with us, people who by law are responsible to provide the immediate care needed for the child's safety and well-being."

"This is ridiculous." Andy lets out a deep breath as he closes his eyes and leans back into the couch, "Absolutely fucking ridiculous."

"Okay," Sharon lets out a long breath, "I guess we're going to fight about this now." She had been hoping to avoid a confrontation with Andy, but by the way he had stormed out of the office earlier that morning, she knew it was inevitable.

"God," Andy sighs and runs a hand through his hair in exasperation, "I know you want to help, I may not be acting that way, but I do too. But there are limits Sharon, limits to what we can do and what we can handle."

"It will be difficult, but I think we can handle it." Sharon responds, neither her nor Andy willing to sway their opinion.

"Next year you'll be 54, and I'll be 57. That's not exactly prime age for raising a baby." He turns to look at her seriously, "Then we have to factor in the cost of all the clothes and diapers and blankets and, god," he sighs, "college, and a house. It's not like you're pregnant, we don't have months and months to plan everything out, to make the kind of decisions we need to make. We'll have _days_ , if we're lucky, and I'm just not sure that's the best idea. Not to mention we still don't know if she's Rusty's sister."

"Why does that matter?" Sharon questions as she adjusts her seat on the couch, turning and folding her legs beneath herself so she could better look at Andy, "Even if she isn't Rusty's sister, that baby deserves to grow up in a happy, loving home. That could be us."

"Yeah, until I have another heart attack and kick the bucket for good this time." He rolls his eyes and Sharon smacks his arm.

"What have we said about making heart attack jokes?" She uses her Darth Raydor voice on him in an attempt to convey her seriousness.

"That me almost dying isn't something to joke about." He responds with feigned annoyance before his voice returns to its normal tone, "But all joking aside, if something were to happen to me…"

"It won't." Sharon responds deadpan as she reaches out and squeezes his hand, "Nothing will happen to you." She repeats, giving his hand another squeeze as if to convince herself she was right.

"And what about us?" Andy asks seriously, his facial features softening, "We've done this before, we both know that having a baby around makes us more likely to fight, and I was really looking forward to marrying you." He throws her a crooked grin and Sharon offers him a small smile before she speaks.

"This is different though." Sharon replies, "A big part of those fights result from postpartum depression and hormone changes. We don't have to worry about that aspect of it. Now the sleep deprivation," she chuckles, "we've been living off five or fewer hours of sleep for years now, I don't think we'll have a problem with that."

"So whether she's Rusty's sister or not, you want to do this?" He questions softly.

"Mhm." Sharon hums with a small nod, "As long as we're in agreement."

"Then the first thing we need to do is pick a name." Andy suggests, and a bright smile breaks across Sharon's face.

~oOo~

"What ever happened with Gary's parents?" Rusty questions, he, Andy, Sharon, and even the baby sitting around the table, "I thought they were going to adopt her."

"I don't know." Sharon responds as she bounces the baby on her knee, the little girl swinging one of her arms every now and again, "I'm assuming they changed their minds, and that's how she ended up on our doorstep."

"That's messed up." Rusty grumbles as he eats a french fry, "I mean my mom has done some pretty terrible things in the past, but at least she never left me on a doorstep."

"No," Sharon shakes her head as she takes a sip of her soda, "but she did leave you at the zoo, which is how I got lucky enough to have you. And, apparently, how we got lucky enough to have her as well."

"Speaking of which," Andy looks from Sharon to the baby, and finally to Rusty, "your mother and I decided on a name, but you get a vote too."

"Wait, you get to name her?" Rusty questions.

"Well…" Sharon admits, "We're fostering her right now. When we are approved to adopt, that's when we get to name her. But we needed something to call her until then; we thought Cassandra Flynn sounded nice, Cassie for short." She adds.

"And," Andy smiles at Rusty as he motions towards the teen, "we were thinking Beck for her middle name. So you aren't the only Beck in the house."

Rusty looks from Andy to Sharon, the latter nodding, a small smile on her face, "What do you think?"

"Wait a minute," Rusty looks skeptically to Andy before placing a hand on his forehead, "yesterday you were mad at Sharon for taking care of the baby without knowing she's my sister, and now you still don't know and you want to name her after me?"

"Well, the blood work should be back today or tomorrow, so we'll know soon enough." Andy shrugs innocently, "And if she isn't your sister, she will be once we adopt her."

"Cassandra Beck Flynn, huh?" Rusty questions, his voice a higher pitch as he talked to the baby in Sharon's lap, "I like it. But just to be sure here," he glances at Sharon, the same look of panic on his face as when he burst into the office yesterday, "you guys know you don't have to do this, right. You aren't obligated to adopt her because of me. That's not fair to you."

"We aren't doing it for you." Sharon shakes her head, "We're doing it for her."

"We're also doing it for you. Sort of a two birds one stone type deal." Andy adds with a crooked smile.

"Don't say anything to your brothers and sisters." Sharon points a brow as she looks to Rusty, "We want to surprise them."

"And incase you missed it, she said brothers and sisters, plural. That means Nic and Michael included. Don't need you ruining another surprise." Andy adds, and Sharon looks to him with confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

Rusty lets out an awkward laugh before addressing his mother's question, "When Flynn told me he was going to propose, he made me promise not to tell my siblings, _which I didn't_ ," he directs his attention towards Andy as he says the words, "but I did tell Nicole. And then she kept calling me asking how it went. She kept screaming." Rusty shakes his head, "By the time you guys told everyone about the engagement, we already knew. My bad." Rusty blushes with embarrassment.

"I'm glad all of you are getting along." Sharon smiles as she picks up Cassie and leans her against her shoulder, "Although it may be a bit weird for all of them, I think this will be good for our family."

"If she starts crying in the middle of the night I'm going to Gus's. Me not getting sleep will _not_ be good for our family." He explains, and all three of them laugh.

Their laughter is broken by a high-pitched cry from Cassie, along with the ringing of Sharon's phone. "Crap, Andy can you get my phone?" She questions frantically as she attempts to soothe Cassie, "I'm going to take her to the bathroom and check her diaper."

"We've got this parenting thing down." Andy chuckles to himself as he steps out of the restaurant, Sharon making her way to the bathroom.

"Oh, Sweetheart," she breathes out as she lays Cassie down on the changing table, the infant's face red as she continued to cry, "your diaper's clean." Sharon says more to herself than Cassie, "But your stomach's all red. I'll put some powder on that when we get you home, yes Mommy will." She baby-talks as she presses a kiss to the baby's stomach, surprised to find her skin incredibly hot. When Cassie starts to shake again, Sharon quickly bundles her back up before hurrying from the bathroom.

"We have a problem." Both she and Andy say in unison when they meet in front of their table, both with looks of worry on their face.

"Guys, what's wrong?" Rusty gets up from his seat and comes to stand beside Andy, an equally concerned look on his face.

"We have to get to the hospital, right now." Andy states before they all hurry to the parking lot.


	4. Chapter 4

"What the hell is going on?" Rusty questions again as Andy speeds down the highway, "Sharon!"

"Is she his sister?" Sharon ignores Rusty and instead speaks to Andy, "That was Cynthia on the phone, wasn't it?"

"It was, and she is." Andy confirms with a nod.

"Okay," Sharon lets out a deep breath as she holds Cassie in her arms, the baby occasionally trembling, "Rusty," she lets out another deep breath as she looks to her son, her lips pressed into a thin line, and her eyes filled with sadness, "your mother was using during her pregnancy."

"No." Rusty shakes his head, "She wouldn't do that. She was taking this seriously." He argues weakly.

"Obviously not seriously enough." Sharon looks from her son to his sister, who was still crying loudly.

"So what, she's… She's in withdrawal?" Rusty questions with disbelief.

"Yes." Andy responds curtly as they pull up outside the hospital, "You guys get out and I'll go park the car. I'll meet you inside."

Neither Sharon nor Rusty respond, the two of them hurrying out of the car and into the hospital.

Andy parks the car and sits for a moment, taking deep breaths. He and Sharon had agreed to take in Cassandra, and they thought it would be easy, or as easy as caring for a newborn at their ages could be. But now it seemed like Sharon Beck had found yet another way to disrupt their lives, and Andy schools his features before getting out of the car and walking into the hospital.

"I'm looking for the woman that came in with a baby, she had a teenager with her too." He speaks quickly, somehow still appearing calm despite the knot he felt in his stomach.

"Name?" The receptionist looks up at him, the light from the computer screen reflecting off of her glasses.

"God, I don't know." Andy breathes out with frustration as he runs a hand through his hair, "Raydor, Flynn, or Beck. I don't know which she used."

"Okay, I have a Cassandra Flynn, just admitted a few minutes ago."

"Yes, yes that's her!" Flynn exclaims, "Can you take me to her?"

"Follow me." The receptionist responds, and she leads Andy through a maze of hallways and corridors, and finally to an elevator. "The NICU is on the third floor."

"Thank you." Andy nods as he presses the elevator button, cursing his heart for keeping him from running the stairs.

He gets on the elevator and closes his eyes, letting out a deep breath as it makes its way upwards.

A couple seconds later it comes to a halt and Andy steps out, a whirlwind seeming to whip around him where he stood. Nurses bustled by, families wandered through the hallways, and every once in a while he'd hear a baby cry. He unsurely pulls out his phone and dials Sharon, waiting for her to pick up.

" _Where are you?"_ She questions frantically.

"Can you step out into the hallway? I'm not sure where you are, and I haven't found anyone to help me."

A moment later and he sees Sharon emerge at the end of the hallway, and although he's a fair distance away he can tell her face is ashen. He quickly walks over to her and extends his arms, not surprised that she immediately hugs him. His arms wrap around her waist, and her hands rest upon his chest as she closes her eyes and cries.

"She's going to be okay." Andy tries quietly as he squeezes Sharon in an attempt to calm her, "Cassie's going to be okay."

"She could have died, if we hadn't caught this in time." Sharon breathes out, her voice shaky and filled with tears, "She could have seized, could have dehydrated. We could've lost her."

"We didn't." Andy responds as he presses a kiss to her hairline, "We didn't lose her. She'll be fine." He repeats, trying to convince himself it were true.

They stand like that for what feels like hours, holding one another as Sharon gently cries. They break the hug when Rusty steps into the hallway, looking uncomfortable to have found them that way.

"They're asking questions I can't answer." Rusty admits, his face pale just like Sharon's, "Can you guys come back in?"

"Yes." Sharon responds strongly as she steps away from Andy and whisks away a tear with her finger. She extends her hand to Andy and he takes it, giving hers a gentle squeeze before they all step back into the room.

Andy's eyes can't help but be drawn to Cassandra, the little girl enclosed in something that reminded him of outer space. It looked like a crib, but it was enclosed with glass, two holes on each side with gloves attached, he assumed for babies that were too sick to be held. It was then that he realised Cassie was silent and unmoving, neither of which she'd been since they'd taken her in.

"What's wrong with her, why isn't she moving?" Andy looks to Cynthia, trying to hide how scared he felt.

"She was given a dose of morphine to replace the drugs." Cynthia explains, "They'll ween her off of it over the next few weeks, try and get her out of the woods."

"Weeks?" Sharon questions sadly, her fingers still laced through Andy's, "She's going to be like this for weeks? I'll have to wait weeks to hold her?" Her voice inflects with sadness, "Is she going to pull through this?"

"That is what I need to talk with you about." Cynthia explains, and Sharon takes a step towards the crib, pressing her hand against the glass as she watched Cassie, "Now that we have confirmed this baby is Rusty's sister, we have a little more to work with. But there are some things we still don't know about her mother, things that would make this whole process easier on the baby."

"Cassie." Sharon breathes out, "We named her Cassie."

"When Cassie's bloodwork came back, the lab found traces of methamphetamine. Seeing as Sharon Beck was so quick to leave after giving birth, the original bloodwork never came back, or we could've caught this earlier. It takes days, sometimes weeks for withdrawal to take effect."

"How old is she?" Sharon questions, her voice still far off, "She's so little, I thought only a few days."

"As best we can tell she's around two weeks old." Cynthia explains, "Because of the drug exposure she suffered, she has a lower weight. She's lucky though," Cynthia says as all of them look to the baby, "so many of the ones born addicted have trouble eating, trouble sleeping."

"So this," Sharon breathes out as she quickly processes the information, "would have been a reason for Gary's parents to give her up." She turns to look at Rusty and Andy as she speaks, the former slowly nodding.

"So they knew that she was using." He breathes out with disappointment, "They knew their… their grandchild was at risk," he looks from Sharon to Andy with fear in his eyes, "and they didn't try to stop it."

"We don't know that." Sharon lets go of Andy's hand and cautiously hugs Rusty, surprised to find that he returns the embrace, "Depending on how long it took before they found out, it could have already affected the baby. And once they found out," she lets out a deep breath as she continues to hug her son, "you and I both know how hard it is to talk some sense into Sharon Beck. She's set in her ways, old habits die hard. We don't know that Gary's parents didn't try to stop this."

When Rusty tries to step away Sharon releases him, surprised to find tears pooled in the corners of his eyes, "I have to find her." He states resolutely, "I want her to see this."

"Rusty-" Sharon starts to say, but Andy's voice drowns hers out.

"I know you're upset, Sharon and I are too, but your mother gave that baby up. For the first time in her life she did the right thing, and left Cassie with people who give a damn. As far as the law is concerned, and frankly as far as the two of us are concerned," he glances at Sharon out of the corner of his eye before continuing, "your mother has no right to be near that child."

Rusty looks at Andy, his jaw tensed with anger, "She ruined my life, and she's already ruined my sister's. I want her to see what she did to Cassie." Rusty looks back at his sister one last time before hurrying out of the hospital, phone already in hand.

~oOo~

"Still no word from Rusty?" Andy questions as he comes to stand in the middle of the living room.

"No." Sharon shakes her head as she wraps herself tighter in the blanket, her legs stretched out across the couch, "If I don't hear from him soon I'll have to call him. He shouldn't be gone this long."

"His heart's in the right place." Andy admits as he sits in the armchair across from Sharon, "It's not your job to raise Sharon Beck's kids. You did it once and now she expects you to do it again. It's ridiculous. If it'll save us grief and aggravation, I'll pay to get her tubes tied."

Sharon lets out a small laugh at his comment, grateful to have him lighten the mood. She was exhausted, but wanted nothing more than to be at the hospital. Andy had to practically pry her away when they had left, and now that she was home, she had lost all resolve to return to the hospital. Cynthia was staying with Cassie, and she, Andy, and Rusty had already agreed to take turns staying with her until they could take her home. "I'm worried about him, about both of them." Sharon admits, "When Rusty gets this fired up…" Her voice trails off and she lets out a sigh before rubbing her temples, "I don't know what he expects will come of this."

"He's angry, and he has someone to blame." Andy responds, "Let him take his anger out on the person who caused all of this."

"He does nothing but hurt himself every time he goes back to her. And he's his mother, I know that," Sharon lets out a deep breath as she pushes herself up so she's sitting facing Andy, "but that title means nothing given the things she's done to him. In that sense she isn't his mother, she's just the woman that gave birth to him. _I'm_ his mother. I'm the one that taught him how to drive and supported his coming out and protected him from Stroh. She abandoned him, treated him like garbage because of who he is. She's not the person he should keep seeking out, regardless of the circumstances. I'm just frustrated." Sharon admits, and Andy gets up from his chair and comes to sit beside her on the couch.

"He's not choosing her over you, and you know that." Andy tries as he wraps an arm around Sharon's shoulder and pulls her into his embrace, "He wants her to take responsibility for what she's done, which is something he learned from you. He doesn't expect her to take care of Cassie, especially since we know she couldn't take care of him. He's trying to protect his sister by making Sharon Beck own up to what she did. You should be proud of him."

"I am." Sharon nods as she closes her eyes and leans into Andy, "But that doesn't change the fact that this whole situation with Cassie, it's bringing up all these feelings from his own childhood. And he won't talk to me about it, I learned that years ago. He'll bottle it up, and then sooner or later he'll lash out. Most likely at me." She adds with a tired shrug.

"He loves you, you know." Andy responds softly, "More than the other Sharon, if I had to guess." He presses a kiss to the side of her head as he sweeps the pad of his thumb over her shoulder in an attempt to soothe her, "And if he won't talk to you, I can always take a crack at him."

"He loves you too." Sharon responds, "He just has a strange way of showing it. You've been great with him over the years, and he trusts you. He may come to you on his own about this."

"Are you falling asleep?" Andy questions with surprise as he watched her, eyes closed and glasses askew, nestled into his side.

"No." Sharon shakes her head, her eyes still closed.

"Yes you are." He presses a kiss to her forehead and she lets out a small hum, "Why don't you get ready for bed, and I'll call Rusty."

"Okay." She answers, but makes no effort to get up from the couch. Andy offers her a soft, loving smile before he presses a kiss to the tip of her nose, picking up his phone and stepping onto the balcony to call their son.


	5. Chapter 5

Andy sat at the dining room table, glasses perched on the end of his nose, reading one of Sharon's books as he waited for Rusty to get home. He was exhausted, and while the thought of curling up beside Sharon was more than tempting, he decided to wait for Rusty to get home, to make sure he was safe, and offer his ear if the teen wanted to talk.

Andy gets through a few chapters in his book before he hears the door unlock, and he glances at the clock on the microwave, glowing a green _12:05_.

"Andy." Rusty looks startled to find the older man still awake, "Were you waiting for me to get home?"

"No." Andy lies as he closes his book and sets the glasses on top, "I wanted to get some reading in before I went to bed. How did things go?" He questions as Rusty comes to sit across from him at the table, the teen appearing visibly tired.

"Well, I found her." He breathes out as he crosses his arms on the table and lays his head on top, "But nothing good came from the conversation."

"I'm sorry." Andy breathes out, unsure if squeezing Rusty's arm would comfort him at all.

"She said that Cassie was a mistake. Another stupid mistake she made, just like me. That she shouldn't have had to give up her lifestyle for some baby she would've been better off aborting." Andy's almost certain he hears Rusty let out a small sob, so he cautiously reaches out and pats his back.

He wasn't sure what to say, he knew Sharon would be better at consoling him, but she had been asleep for some time now. "I'm sorry she said those things." Andy tries as he continues to rub Rusty's back, "But you and your sister, you're not a burden, not to me, and especially not to Sharon. You're family; I consider you one of my own, and while I'm not quite there with Cassie yet, your mother is. We're a family, you me, Sharon, Cassie, and all your brothers and sisters. You don't need Sharon Beck, because you have us."

"She said…" Rusty sniffles and picks up his head before continuing, trying his hardest to keep his voice from breaking, "She said she wished Stroh had killed me that night, wished that she miscarried Cassie or had an abortion. She said she would've been better off if neither of us ever existed."

Andy looks at Rusty, pain evident in the latter's eyes. He could feel his blood pressure rising, and he was more than ready to hunt down Sharon Beck and give her a piece of his mind. "Fuck her." Andy responds bluntly, and although he knows it's not helpful, it was the phrase stuck at the forefront of his mind, "What does she know about parenting? She hardly took care of you, and did next to nothing for Cassie. She has no place to be calling either of you inconvenient when she did nothing for either of you in the first place."

"Yeah, I," Rusty rubs his eyes, "I guess you're right. My home is here with you and Sharon, but that doesn't make the things she says hurt any less. She's still the woman that created Cassie and me, and just…" he lets out a deep breath in exasperation before he places his head back down on the table, "Fuck her." He repeats, causing Andy to let out a small chuckle.

"Now don't let your mother catch you saying that." Andy says as he continues to laugh quietly.

"Don't let her catch you either." Rusty retorts as he picks his head back up and offers Andy a sad smile, "Thank you for listening to me, and for waiting for me to come home, even if you won't admit it."

"It's what families do." Flynn offers a crooked smile to the teen before continuing, "Come on, I think it's time to get some rest, don't you?"

"After the past couple days we've had, definitely." Rusty lets out a small laugh as he gets up from the table and heads for his room, "Good night Andy."

~oOo~

"I _cannot_ believe her." Sharon breathes out with irritation as she and Andy drive into work, "Honestly."

"I know." Andy agrees as he reaches out and squeezes her hand, the engagement ring that rested on her finger cool against his palm, "But on the bright side, he was comfortable enough with me to talk about it."

"Still," Sharon lets out an exasperated breath as she pushes a strand of hair from her face with her free hand, "she shouldn't talk to him like that, saying she wished he had been killed, can you imagine saying something like that to Michael or Nicole?"

"I couldn't." Andy shakes his head as they pull into the parking garage, "But Sharon Beck is a whole different kind of person."

"You think?" Sharon questions with a quirked eyebrow as they both get out of the car and head for the elevator.

"Obviously you're feeling better today." Andy responds with a small chuckle, his hand finding its place on the small of her back as the elevator lurches upward.

The bell dings and they step off, both Sharon and Andy wincing when they see the murder room.

"Congratulations!" Sykes exclaims, a huge smile on her face, "We're having a baby shower!"

Sharon and Andy share a look before glancing over the festivities set before them, balloons, streamers, wrapped packages, and a banner that read "It's a girl!"

"Yeah, about that," Andy begins as he awkwardly toys with his hands, but he's cut off by an overly-excited Sharon.

"This is too much!" She responds happily as she hugs Amy, assuming the only woman in the squad had been the mastermind behind the shower, "You didn't have to do this, none of you." She adds, looking to the rest of the team , all of them offering encouraging smiles.

"Yeah, yeah, where's the little monster?" Provenza questions in his typically grumpy manner.

"About that," Andy starts again, and this time Sharon doesn't interrupt him, "we took the day off work yesterday to adjust to having the baby around, and we got a call from Cynthia. The baby was born addicted, thanks to Sharon Beck." Andy breathes out as he rolls his eyes.

Wes looks with curiosity from Sharon to Andy, trying to figure out how they knew the baby's mother. Eventually, he voices the question, "Wait, who's Sharon Beck?"

"Sharon Beck is," Raydor breathes out uncomfortably, "she is the mother of both Rusty and Cassandra."

"I thought he was your son?" He looks with confusion from Sharon to the team, the squad smiling mischievously.

"He is, adopted." Sharon offers a small proud smile, "Quite a few years ago now."

"Ma'am, is the baby going to be okay?" Julio pipes up, having heard the story of Rusty's adoption a million times by now; he was eager to talk about a more pressing topic.

"In a couple of weeks." She nods sadly, "In the meantime, Andy, Rusty, Cynthia, and I are going to take turns staying at the hospital with her. Which means that Lieutenant Provenza," she looks to him with a pointed brow, "you're going to have to pick up the slack when I'm gone."

"Of course I am." He grumbles, and although the words come out harshly, everyone knew he didn't mind stepping in for the captain when she needed help.

Amy looks with disappointment from the decorated table to Sharon and Andy, and before she can ask the question, Sharon answers her, "Yes, we can still have the baby shower." She offers a small roll of her eyes when Amy claps excitedly, a huge smile once again breaking across her face. For someone who didn't want kids, the detective sure was excited about the newest addition to Sharon's family.

~oOo~

"Okay, this is a lot of stuff. We need to do thank you cards tonight." She breathes out as she looks around her office, things for Cassandra tucked into both corners of the room.

"I still can't believe they did all this." Andy agrees, both he and Sharon standing between two piles of baby gifts, "At this point we'll need some more clothes, shoes, a stroller, a crib, a car seat, and a booster. All the big stuff."

"Well when you put it like that, I still feel like we need so much." Sharon lets out a sigh and runs a hand through her hair, "But I suppose there's a positive to having Cassie in the hospital: we have time to get things set up."

"Before we can set things up, we need to find a house." Andy retorts, "We gave up on that for a while after my heart attack, but we really do need to keep looking."

"I always did like the house with the pool." Sharon admits, and Andy lets out a small chuckle.

"The mold house? The one we found the body in?" He questions with a crooked smile.

"Yes." Sharon nods, "I loved that house, but we didn't have the time to fix it up."

"And we have time now?" Andy questions with a quirked eyebrow as he reaches out and holds both of her hands.

"I don't know." Sharon looks down at their hands, still surprised to find a diamond ring on her finger after all these years, "We could always pay someone to clean it out. That house is big enough for the three of us and Cassie, and we'd still have a spare room for our other kids. We can teach Cassie to swim; Rusty can invite his friends over when he's home from school, it's perfect."

"Do you want me to see if it's still on the market?" Andy questions with a soft smile, "We all liked that house."

"We did. That was our house." Her voice is melancholic as she gently squeezes Andy's hands, "I doubt it's still on the market, it was perfect."

"Yeah, minus all the mold." Andy shrugs sarcastically, "Maybe we'll get lucky. I mean after all, we were worried about not having things ready for Cassie, and now we have a couple weeks to set up. We were worried about not having enough space, and now we want the mold house. Maybe we'll catch another break."

"When did you become such the optimist?" Sharon questions with a small smile, "The Andy I met all those years ago was so negative."

"So was the Sharon I knew." He responds, his gaze soft as he looks to her, "We've come full circle since then. We're engaged, we have Cassie, who would've thought?"

"No one." She laughs quietly as she swings their hands, "But I'm happy."

"Me too." Andy responds before he leans down and gently captures her lips.

When they break the kiss, Sharon offers him a smile before jokingly saying, "The team is going to get suspicious if you stay in here much longer."

"Do I look like I care?" He retorts before kissing her again, "We're getting married, they're suspicious enough already."

"Okay, that's enough." Sharon lets out a small laugh as she pushes him towards the door, "Out. Go."

"Was that a yes on the house?" He questions with a raised eyebrow as Sharon literally pushes him from the room.

"Yes." She nods as she stands, smiling, on the opposite side of the threshold, "I'm going to leave in a bit and check on Cassie, do you think Provenza can give you a ride home?"

"Or I could come with you?" He questions hesitantly, not at all oblivious to how protective Sharon was of the little girl, "After all, she is _our_ daughter."

"We shouldn't both leave." Sharon shakes her head, "Davis will get suspicious, and she's already a big enough problem without the two of us disappearing."

"When I'm done here I'll meet you at the hospital." He compromises, "Do you want me to bring dinner?"

"If you want to." Sharon shrugs, smirking before she shuts the door in Andy's face, keeping him from dragging out the conversation any longer.


	6. Chapter 6

Andy stops when he gets to Cassie's room, watching from the doorway. Sharon was asleep in a recliner chair, her glasses askew, and both arms wrapped protectively around Cassie, who was also sleeping. With a loving smile, Andy pulls his phone out of his pocket and quickly snaps a photo of his girls before stepping into the room. Neither of them stir upon his arrival, so he presses a soft kiss to Sharon's forehead, her eyes slowly fluttering open.

"What time is it?" She questions sleepily as she shifts Cassie in her arms.

"Almost seven." Andy responds before holding out the bag in his hand, "Dinner?"

"Please." Sharon nods, "Let me put her down first."

Andy watches with admiration as Sharon places a kiss to Cassie's cheek before she gets up from her chair and puts the baby down in the crib, leaving the lid open.

"I didn't know we were allowed to hold her." Andy says as he takes a seat beside Sharon and hands her a takeout box.

"It's supposed to help her, to be held even a couple hours a day." Sharon looks back to the crib before picking at a forkful of her dinner, "It's important for newborns regardless, but especially for her. To feel warmth and a heartbeat." Andy lets out a small chuckle, and Sharon looks to him with a quirked eyebrow, "What?"

"Nothing." Andy shakes his head and laughs quietly to himself again before explaining, "Just back in the day, when Nic was born, Sandy was so protective of her; wouldn't let anyone hold her, even me. Her sisters started calling her a Smother- a smothering mother." He explains with a wave of his hands, "You're a Smother."

Sharon glares weakly at him, "No, I am not."

At that moment Cassie begins to cry, and Sharon quickly sets down her food before picking up the baby and cradling her against her chest.

"If you're not a Smother, let me hold her." Andy tries, and Sharon glances from Cassie, who had instantly quieted, back to Andy.

He can tell by the look in her eyes that she's hesitating, but Sharon eventually concedes. "Be careful."

"I know how to hold a baby." Andy retorts as Sharon passes Cassie to him, "Stop hovering." Andy adds when Sharon doesn't back away from him.

"I'm not hovering." Sharon argues, "I'm remembering." She explains wistfully.

"Oh?" Andy tilts his head and looks to her curiously.

"Not about my kids." Sharon shakes her head in response to his question, "About you, all those years ago, with that baby. I'd watched Provenza try and calm him all day by waving keys in his face, and then you picked him up and he calmed right down. It was impressive."

"Really?" Andy questions with a small chuckle, Cassie looking back and forth between the two of them with wide eyes, "You were impressed. By my baby skills." He repeats with surprise, "Seriously?"

"Mhm." Sharon hums in response as she reaches out and strokes Cassie's cheek, "I know I was oblivious for a while, but looking back on it I'm pretty sure you were flirting with me."

"Don't remember, but I probably was." He admits with a shrug, "Do you want her back?" Andy questions, and without words Sharon scoops the baby from his arms.

"That's your daddy." Sharon baby-talks as she holds Cassie up so she can look at Andy, "Hi Daddy." She continues in her small voice as she picks up one of Cassie's small hands and waves at Andy.

He offers a warm smile as Sharon sits back down, and he follows suit, "When she started crying, how did you get her quiet so fast? How did you know what she wanted?" He questions curiously.

"She just wanted to be held. The doctor's have been in and out the last few hours, and I've been asking questions. Just like a healthy baby, Cassie will cry when she wants to be held, only she'll want to be held more often and for longer periods of time. A nurse came in and fed her before you got here, so I knew she wasn't hungry." Sharon explains, "Her tremors have been better today; in a little while they'll want to give her some morphine so they don't start again."

"After that, I have a surprise for you." Andy tries with a soft smile.

Sharon narrows her gaze as she looks to him, "What did you do?"

"Nothing." Andy defends, his voice cracking as it always did when arguing, "It's nothing, I promise. Just a nice gesture on the part of your _amazing_ ," he emphasises, "fiance and son."

"Oh God," Sharon lets out a deep breath as she leans her head back, Cassie still looking wildly around, "you got him involved in another one of you schemes? I thought you weren't going to do that anymore?"

"It was his idea." Andy shrugs, "I promise. Besides, I think you'll like it."

"The two of you working together scares me." She says before looking to Cassie and speaking in her soft voice, "Daddy and Rusty are working together, yes they are."

Both Sharon and Andy look to the door when it opens, and they find a nurse standing there with a vial of morphine. Sharon reluctantly places Cassie back in the crib, watching sadly as the nurse draws the feels Andy reach out and cautiously take her hand, and she gives his a gentle squeeze in return. Cassie lets out a small cry before going silent, the couple across from her letting out both a sad and relieved breath.

~oOo~

"Seriously, Andy, where are we going?" Sharon asks with a hint of irritation, "We have work tomorrow, I'd prefer not to be up too late."

"Just trust me, hm?" Andy questions with a mischievous smile and a quirked brow as he looks to her, "We're almost there."

Sharon lets out a breath in exasperation and closes her eyes as she leans back against the headrest. A few minutes later Andy parks the car, and Sharon slowly opens her eyes.

"You brought me to the mold house?" She questions with slight confusion, "Andy, what are we doing here?"

"Just humour me, come inside?" He tries as he offers Sharon his hand. She accepts and the duo walks to the front door, Andy using his other hand to reach into his pocket and pull out a key.

"Why do you have the key?" Sharon questions with a raised eyebrow as Andy unlocks the door, "We agreed on the house but-"

He opens the door and Sharon's mouth falls open in shock, "See, it's a good surprise."

"Andy," Sharon looks to him with both admiration and surprise, "I didn't want you to go out and buy the house right away, we should've moved some money around and…" She lets out a deep breath, "Please tell me you didn't move all that stuff in here, with the way your heart's been."

"No, not at all." He shakes his head, "Rusty and Gus have been working on this most of the day." He admits, "I called Rusty to see how he felt about the house, and he was all for it. The realtor still had the house listed, so I wrote him a check. Then the boys thought it was a good idea to start moving things from the condo over here, so…" His voice trails off as he motions for Sharon to step into the house, "I'd offer to carry you over the threshold, but I'm so weak and old." He adds with a small chuckle, and Sharon turns to glare at him much like she had the other evening.

"No heart attack jokes." She repeats pointedly, "It's not funny."

"I know." Andy shakes his head as he briefly glances down at the floor, "But I wanted to show you our house. The boys put a lot of work into it today. Rusty, are you still here?" Andy questions loudly, both he and Sharon met with a muffled response from the other side of the house.

"We can't exactly move in here if the house is full of mold." Sharon responds as she looks over everything the boys had brought over: her kitchen table, desk, and coffee pot just to name a few items.

"That's what we're working on." Rusty and Gus emerge from the hallway, both wearing thick yellow gloves and masks, "The one wall was pretty bad, but we got it cleaned off. We're just checking all the other rooms now." He explains, and Sharon looks to the two teens with surprise.

"You got rid of the mold?" Her smile is exuberant as she looks from Rusty to Gus, "You did all of this?"

"Yeah, Mom, we did, we thought-" Rusty's sentence is cut off by Sharon excitedly wrapping her arms around both her son and Gus.

Andy chuckles to himself, a small smile gracing his lips as he watched Sharon, who was overjoyed by what he and the boys had done. After everything they'd been through recently: his health, Stroh's return, he was glad their lives were finally going well, that they were finally happy.

"Thank you." He hears Sharon breathe out before releasing the teens from her embrace, "This is too much, I can't believe this." She says quietly again as she looks from the boys to Andy, "You bought us a house." Her greens eyes are sparkling as she takes a step towards Andy, the boys quickly scurrying back down the hallway.

"I did." Andy says, his voice soft and loving as it typically was when talking to Sharon. He reaches out and places his hands on her hips, his eyes focused intently on hers, "It was something we always talked about doing."

"I know, but," her voice starts to break and she reaches up and swipes at her eyes before continuing, "no one's ever done something like this for me, for Rusty," she sniffles with a small laugh as she tries to regain her composure, "no one's ever cared this much about me, or him."

"Hey, I know." Andy breathes out as he pulls her into an embrace in an attempt to soothe her, "I'm in this for the long haul Sharon, we're starting our life together. We have six beautiful kids, we're getting married, and now we have this house. It's everything we always wanted."

"You bought us a house." Sharon repeats, her voice still watery as she buries her face in the crook of his neck, "You bought us a house." She starts to laugh and she looks up at him, a huge grin on her face as she continues to laugh, "A house!" She lets out an overjoyed squeal before grabbing his face and pressing her lips forcefully to his, "This is our house." She smiles brightly as she grazes the pads of her thumbs across his cheeks, her face still mere inches from his, "You did this."

"I could think of some other things I'd like to do, too." Andy growls as he moves his hands to cup her ass, his teeth nipping at the soft skin on her neck.

"Andy," she lets out a breath to steady herself, blush flowering across her face, "the boys are here."

"Which means we'd have the condo all to ourselves." He tries, his voice gravelly as he continues to gently pull at her skin.

Sharon lets out a small moan and tips her head back, her eyes fluttering closed. They'd been together long enough that he knew exactly how to get her going, and he had a habit of doing so at some of the most inconvenient times- _now_ , for example.

She takes a step away from him, and Andy instantly pouts, his signature puppy-dog face he'd been making way before they were together. "I like that idea." She whispers in response, her eyes still glittering with happiness, but now mischief as well. She throws one last look in Andy's direction before heading off down the hallway to say goodnight to the boys, swaying her hips more than usual, because she knew her fiance's eyes were glued to her ass.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: We're back in business_

~oOo~

"Damn it." Sharon hears Andy grumble and she slowly opens her eyes, only then realising that her phone is ringing on the nightstand, "Please don't answer that." His voice is laden with sleep, and he tightens his grip around her waist in an attempt to keep her from picking up the phone.

"It's Provenza." She argues as the phone continues to ring, "I need to answer it." She reaches out and just barely skims it with her fingertips, pulling it closer before picking it up and answering "Raydor."

Andy pulls her closer and closes his eyes again, smiling against her bare shoulder. He loved the idea that maybe one day soon she'd be answering the phone with his last name.

"We'll be there shortly." She nods before hanging up the phone, and she turns in Andy's arms so that she's facing him, "We have a case." Her voice is soft as she traces his jawline with a fingertip, his eyes still closed in a futile attempt to sleep.

"I'd rather stay here." He breathes out quietly.

"So would I, but we need to go. We've been missing enough time as it is." Sharon counters before grudgingly pushing herself out of bed and making her way to the bathroom, "Besides, as long as there's no murders this weekend we'll be able to work on the house and spend time with Cassie. It should be nice and relaxing."

She closes the bathroom door and Andy calls after her, "I don't know what universe you're living in, but setting up the house and going to the hospital aren't my idea of relaxing." He grumbles before closing his eyes, knowing that Sharon won't let him sleep a minute longer than necessary.

~oOo~

"What've we got?" Sharon questions as she and Andy make their way to the crime scene. When they had first started dating, Sharon had requested they drive to work in separate cars, even after they'd started spending the night. Now she had no problem driving in with Andy; she found she rather enjoyed it, actually.

"Teenage boy has gone missing—both his parents were murdered." Provenza explains as he lifts the tape so both Sharon and Andy can step under it.

"Do we think the kid's a potential suspect?" Andy asks as he sips his coffee.

"Neighbours said they heard a struggle around 1 in the morning and that the kid had problems with them, so it's likely."

"Put out an APB and BOLO for the son; he couldn't have gotten far." Sharon returns as she makes her way into the house. She stops upon her arrival in the doorway, Andy nearly running into her. She scans the scene observantly before looking to Morales. "What've you found?" One hand comes to rest on her hip as she takes a sip of her tea, Andy following his partner through the rest of the house.

"Mother was killed when she hit her head on the counter." He explains as he looks from the woman on the ground, blood pooled from her temple, up to the pointed end of the countertop that's marked with blood, "Husband was beaten with a fire poker." He motions over to Kendall who is examining the second body, "Poor guy hardly has a face."

"Thank you." Sharon nods, her index finger coming to curl around her lips as she thinks. She quickly makes her way through the rest of the house to find the team. She sees Sykes and Sanchez in the parent's bedroom, as well as Mike and Wes in the son's. Provenza and Flynn are nowhere to be seen, so she looks to her detective, "Amy, where are Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza?"

"Outside, Ma'am." Sanchez answers for her.

Sharon offers her thanks before making her way to the back of the house. She sees a sliding glass door, and on the other side of it her fiance and his best friend. She takes a sip of her tea before opening the door and greeting them.

"Provenza, Andy," they both look up, their conversation interrupted, "what do you think about two killers?"

"There's no forced entry." Provenza returns.

"No signs of a struggle." Andy says as well, both speaking simultaneously.

"The M.O. is different for each parent." Sharon says again, "The mother hit her head, but the father, there was rage there."

"It was the son." Andy counters, and when Sharon looks to him he can tell she doesn't buy that theory one bit, "Who else could it have been?"

"They weren't both the son." She says, Provenza looking back and forth between the two of them, "I think the father may have played a part in this."

"If the dad was beating on her and took it too far, the son could've stepped in and killed him in a rage." Andy speaks softly, processing the possible theory, "That would explain why the father was killed so brutally."

Provenza rolls his eyes with something between disgust and admiration. He knows how deeply each of the idiots before him feels about the other, and he'd gotten used to them finishing each other's sentences. But this, finishing each other's _thoughts_ , that was going to take some getting used to. If he were being honest, it kind of creeped him out. Spoken language was created for a reason, why did those two refuse to use it?

"Now, how do we find the kid?" Provenza cuts in, "All the family cars are here, so he couldn't have gotten far."

"He could've walked, he could've taken a bus, or even an Uber or Lyft. This kid could be in the wind." Andy returns.

"I'll have Tao try and ping his phone when we get back to the PAB. I don't think he's smart enough to evade us for long." Sharon reaches out and pats Flynn's forearm before turning and heading back inside.

Provenza looks to his partner, a small grin breaking across Flynn's face. God, those two sure were _idiots_.

~oOo~

Rusty lets out a deep sigh and looks back to the bassinet again, Cassie still sound asleep. He is terrified to hold her, but promised Sharon he'd visit while she and Andy were at work. Cassie was his sister after all, she deserved that much.

Rusty turns when he hears a knock on the door, and his heart jumps to his throat when he sees Sharon Beck standing in the doorway, a yellow shawl draped loosely around her shoulders.

"What are you doing here?" Rusty instantly becomes defensive, rising from his seat to stand between his mother and his sister, "You shouldn't be here."

She looks frightened, her hands trembling slightly and her face as ashen as ever, "I'm sorry, I… I wanted to see her." She tries to look around Rusty to the baby, but he takes another step towards her, blocking her view even more.

"You should've thought about that before you gave her up." He crosses his arms over his chest and stares at her, his gaze hard and intimidating. He looks almost Darth Raydor-like.

"Rusty, honey," she reaches out to squeeze his arm but he pulls away, "I wasn't in my right mind. I was tired, she'd kept me up all night crying, and I was so frustrated that I just couldn't look at her. But I'm better now." She attempts to assure the teen.

"No, you're not." Tears are starting to cling to the corners of his eyes; no matter how far he distanced himself from Sharon Beck, her deceit still broke his heart. He should be used to the lies by now, but he wasn't. It made him want to scream. "We had this conversation the other night. I'm not doing this with you again—you made your choice and now you have to live with it."

"Rusty!" His posture straightens when she raises her voice, "She is my daughter and I have a right to see her!"

"And I was your son!" He counters, his voice raising just as angrily. "I _was_ your son, and she _was_ your daughter." He repeats, his voice much softer now, "That meant nothing to you then, and it means nothing to you now. We have a family that cares about us, parents who love us and do everything you never could. I'm not your son anymore, and she's not your daughter either."

"Are you really dumb enough to think the other Sharon and her stupid boyfriend give a shit about either of you? She takes in wounded animals: her ex-husband, you, her boyfriend, and now that baby. She needs a project to busy herself with to distract her from how sad and miserable her life really is. They aren't your parents and they never will be." A smug grin breaks across her face, feeling as though she'd won the battle. To her surprise, Rusty fires back.

"The only Sharon with a sad and pathetic life is _you_." He says seriously, his ice-blue eyes throwing daggers at her, "Sharon and Andy, they did more for me in a month than you did in your entire life. They support me and protect me, Sharon put me through college, put a roof over my head, always made sure I had clothes on my back and food on the table. I don't have to prostitute myself to take care of them; they don't have a drug addiction, I don't have to worry about finding either of them dead with a needle in their arm. Cassie and I are safe and loved with them. I don't know why it's so hard for you to let us go when you're the one who gave us up in the first place."

"You were never supposed to care about her this much." Sharon Beck breathes out sadly as she pulls on her shawl, "You were supposed to hate her as much as you hate me. You were supposed to be as ungrateful, as rude, as _terrible_ to her as you were to me. As you are to me." She corrects.

"Sharon is my mom, not you." Rusty returns. He knows those words will cut her, but he doesn't care, "I could never hate her the way I hate you—I never did. The difference between the two of you is that she _wants_ to be a mother, even though Cassie and I weren't her kids. She wants what's best for us, something you never did. I was awful to Sharon when I first started living there, I know I was. And it was because you had me so screwed up I didn't know how to breathe. She taught me how; Sharon taught me how to breathe and run and laugh and _smile_ , something I don't think I ever did before she took me in. You should be glad I didn't end up like you. Get out." He starts to push her towards the door but she fights him, pressing her hands against his chest as he moves her towards the door.

"No, Rusty, no, don't do this!" She fights back, trying to break out of his grasp. He isn't holding her tightly, but the heavy drug use had made her incredibly weak, "Rusty!"

When he pushes his other mother across the threshold he lets go of her and quickly closes the door, leaning against it as he lets out deep, calming breaths. He hears Sharon Beck yell at someone, her voice loud and strong. He hears the voice, presumably a nurse, respond quietly before Sharon Beck storms away.

A moment later there's a knock on the door, and Rusty places his hand on the handle, hesitating for a moment. If Sharon Beck is on the other side of that door he isn't sure he'll be able to keep from screaming at her.

He lets out a deep breath and opens the door, his eyes going wide for a moment, "Sharon?"

"We had a break in the case, so I wanted to stop by over lunch." She explains softly. She'd heard Rusty's interaction with the other Sharon, and decided not to intervene. She was proud of how he'd responded—for someone whose emotions were so typically inaccessible he had no problem telling his birth mother how much he appreciated everything his adoptive mother and father had done for him. It makes her smile.

"My… the other Sharon was here." He admits glumly as he flops down into a chair.

"I know." Sharon responds, her voice airy as she reaches into the bassinet and picks up Cassie. The baby coos quietly, and Sharon strokes her cheek before looking back to her son, "I heard the two of you talking."

"Oh." Rusty lets out a sigh and runs a hand through his hair, "I'm guessing you're the one she yelled at in the hallway?"

"Yes." She offers a small shrug, a smile gracing her lips as she looks from her daughter to her son, "You held your ground; I'm proud of you." She shifts Cassie in her arms so she can reach out with a free hand and squeeze Rusty's shoulder.

He looks to her awkwardly before responding, "So, you heard all that stuff I said about you and Andy?"

"Yes." Sharon says again. She knows Rusty will be uncomfortable with the notion of her and Andy knowing how much he cares for them, but she doesn't mind. "I appreciate you standing up for Andy and me."

"How can she…" Rusty's struggling to talk to Sharon, and it makes her wonder how he'd talked so freely to Andy a few evenings ago.

"Would you rather talk to Andy about this?" She asks seriously, "I think he and Provenza went out for burgers." She suggests, knowing that will immediately get his attention.

Rusty lets out a frustrated groan before looking to his mother and sister, "Are you mad I talked to him about what happened the other night and not you?"

"No, not at all!" Sharon shakes her head in disbelief, "Quite the opposite, actually. This is what having a father's all about." She offers a small smile; she and Andy had taken to calling Rusty _their_ son, rather than just hers.

"What about Cassie?" The teen questions anxiously.

"I'll stay with her until I have to get back to work. You can come back if you'd like, or all three of us can come see her after Andy and I are done at work."

"Can we come back when you guys are done at work? Gus and I want to do some more work to the house."

Sharon offers another smile, this one larger than the last, "You don't have to do that." She assures him, "Andy and I are planning on working on it this weekend. Somehow I won't be surprised if he ropes the whole team into helping."

Sharon lets out a small chuckle and Rusty does as well before rising from his chair and looking to Cassie, the young girl's eyes wide as she peers around, "I'll see you later, Cassie. Mom's gonna take good care of you." He says softly before turning and leaving the room.


End file.
